My wife and I are both Americans and have joint-owned a house

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My wife and I are both Americans and have joint-owned a house in France for over 20 years. We both have wills in which all possessions go to the surviving spouse. We just learned that French laws have changed which allows non-French citizens to have wills which take precedence over the French inheritance law. What do we need to do to ensure that our wills will take precedence?Thanks in advance,Pete

I suspect you are referring to the new EU Regulation 650/2012 on matters relating to inheritance.

This Regulation will only apply to the estates of persons who are deceased after 17 August 2015.

Article 22 of the Regulation allows you to choose to have your will governed by the law of your country of nationality. Article 20 specifies this may be the law of any country even non-EU countries.

As a result, you should be able to choose to have the laws of one of the US states apply to your will. You would need to make a will in accordance with the laws of the state which will apply to your will. This should specify that you are electing to choose the law applicable to your will in accordance with EU Regulation 650/2012.

For good measure, you may want to also include a French translation of your will.

It would be a good idea to make a French version of your will. There are different ways to write a will in France. The formalities are explained on this official French government website:http://vosdroits.service-public.fr/F16277.xhtml